Our Midfield - they don't hurt the Opposition enough

[bornadog]

We have a top midfield that gets alot of the ball. Boyd, Cooney, Griffen, Cross, all rack up the possessions, but do they really hurt the opposition. Cooney must have had at least four snaps at goal for a return of 2 behinds 2 out on the full, he also had 9 inside 50's but they didn't seem to hit any targets.

The midfield not only has to get the ball, but it needs to hurt the opposition on the score board where it counts.

[Rance Fan]

Agree totally - Cooney and Griffen particularly should hit the targets, as they more the quality type players rather than the in and under like the others.
And why does Griffen always kick when hes at full stretch, if only he could slow a touch and balance before kicking!

[G-Mo77]

And why does Griffen always kick when hes at full stretch, if only he could slow a touch and balance before kicking!

It's so exciting when he runs with the ball but yet it always seems to be disappointing when it comes off his boot.

[The Coon Dog]

It's so exciting when he runs with the ball but yet it always seems to be disappointing when it comes off his boot.

Specially when its kicked at a billion miles per hour about 2 feet off the ground.

[cinder]

Totally agree. Our midfielders need to kick more goals to really have an effect on the game, especially when our forwards struggled like yesterday.
Just got to look at Geelong's midfield to see the difference.

[Go_Dogs]

Cross and Boyd aren't typically regarded for their ability to hurt the opposition, and it's an area of concern that Cross has perhaps gone backwards a little in his ability to put a team mate in space by the use of a good handball.

Boyd has improved in his area (hand and foot) although I don't think he'll ever be classed as damaging, and his disposal effeciency from yesterday certainly wasn't damaging (or perhaps even satisfactory?).

Cooney, Griffen, Higgins, Akermanis, Murphy, Hargrave, Gilbee and Harbrow are the main guys that I think can really hurt other sides with their disposal. The majority of whom turned in poor performances based on the reports I've read. These are the guys we need to be getting a lot of the ball, making the right decisions and executing well. If they have down days or are soundly beaten by their direct opponents we will struggle.

Gilbee is a bit of a worry as his disposal has not been up to scratch in any of the pre-season matches.

Harbrow might perhaps play better up the field on occassion if he is being worked over close to goal by an opponent. I think he could play off a wing or HFF and do a good job.

Hargrave has become very important with his long kicking and ability to help us switch the play. We need him to perform well every week.

Cooney, Griffen and Higgins are our answer to elite midfielders who can play inside and out. They really need big years. If all are playing well, the opposition won't be able to shut us down. These guys need to stand up and demand the ball, demand excellence and help pull their mates over the line.

Akermanis is getting on, and we really shouldn't be as reliant on him as we perhaps still are. He's a class act though, and if we can get the ball in his hands forward of centre, he should be able to finish well.

Murphy had a great game from all reports which is pleasing. He is another who can really add some class to our forward movements.

[LostDoggy]

Gia hasn't been mentioned, but he's the one that's up and down a bit. If he plays well and wins or gets a lot of clean ball in the front half, we score heavily. If he doesn't, we struggle.

Everyone else in the middle is pretty consistent in that they pretty much do what they do every week so it's not like they were particularly off yesterday -- Boydy was Boydy, Crossy did Crossy things, and Huddo competed brilliantly. Agree that Coons has to kick those goals. Swan was doing it from the same positions that Coons was getting into, and that was a huge difference in the end. Nominated Swan as one of the top 10 non-Bulldogs players in the comp and he went some way to proving it yesterday.

[bornadog]

-- Boydy was Boydy, Crossy did Crossy things, and Huddo competed brilliantly. .

but is that good enough at this level?

[LostDoggy]

but is that good enough at this level?

Only if they are complemented by some game-breaking types (which is the point of this thread, yes?). I pointed out that Gia and Coons are the two that need to bring that to the table. Ward and Higgins are the other two that can break games open from the middle, but they aren't quite at that elite consistency yet. Gia and Coons -- especially with a full pre-season under their belts and injury free -- should be doing it week in week out though.

Again, this is where someone like Eagle remains invaluable, and we need to find a ready-made replacement for him soon-ish (Easton Wood, come on down).

[Rance Fan]

I think we can get the ball out easily enough but its what we do with it. Also what we do when they have it.
Do guys like Cooney, Griffen, Higgins, Gia etc chase hard enough when the opposition have it?
Do we hit targets going forward?...Griffen, Cooney, Cross, Boyd
Do our smaller guys put it thru the big sticks enough!!.....Cooney, Cross, Griffen, Johnson, Gia, Higgins, Aker, Boyd, Hill, Gibee etc......I dont think they do.....well compared to Collingwood (rd1) they didnt. Didak,Medhurst, Swan, Davis all 3+ goals

[LostDoggy]

But of course, they can. You don't become the highest scoring team in the competition over three years without being bloody dangerous, or are able to hurt the opposition. Ask this question again after Round 10 and maybe we may have a better answer for this year.

[The Adelaide Connection]

There were obviously a lot of little issues yesterday but the one that was driving me crazy was the amount of times we had several players going to a contest, the ball would spill free and someones man had stayed out unmarked and plundered the loose ball.

The midfield were guilty but it was happening all over the ground and resulted in quite a few voted goals. Seemed like a lack of talk/awareness I thought.

Edit: "cheap" goals not "voted". Stupid iPhone predictive text.

[Go_Dogs]

There were obviously a lot of little issues yesterday but the one that was driving me crazy was the amount of times we had several players going to a contest, the ball would spill free and someones man had stayed out unmarked and plundered the loose ball.

I noticed this at a few stages last year. At times our hunting in packs can be very good, but if we aren't able to win the ball, we can be caught short on the fringes of the contest, and allow the space to open up for the opposition.

It's not an easy task trying to find the right balance, but it's certainly something that we need to be mindful of - not letting too many players be sucked into the contest.

[LostDoggy]

Great thread, I thought the same yesterday.
Disposal of the ball from the midfielders yesterday was well below par, we can do alot better!
Everytime we got the ball after a centre bounce we fumbled it, which Collingwood then made the most of and made us pay.
I heard someone say that 13 or the 15 goals from Collingwood were from Bulldog turnovers, or something like that anyway.
Collingwood will make you pay if you cough the ball up!

[LostDoggy]

I noticed heaps of times at centre bounces the collingwood players were reading the taps much better and looked like they were executing their plan. Where as we looked like we were winging it.

[Ozza]

There were obviously a lot of little issues yesterday but the one that was driving me crazy was the amount of times we had several players going to a contest, the ball would spill free and someones man had stayed out unmarked and plundered the loose ball.
The midfield were guilty but it was happening all over the ground and resulted in quite a few voted goals. Seemed like a lack of talk/awareness I thought.

Edit: "cheap" goals not "voted". Stupid iPhone predictive text.

I noticed that too. At times when our desperation was there - it was almost too much - Aker, Cross and Boyd all diving for the one footy and Collingwood players surrounding the packs ready to do damage.

[LostDoggy]

We kinda looked like Richmond doing that